The typical particular person can examine absolutely anything on YouTube, however that does not imply they will get correct info from actual consultants. As a Native professor of Indigenous and American Indian Research, I might say that is very true of YouTube content material dedicated to Native tradition and historical past. Once I seek for academic assets to share with my college students to generate class discussions, I inevitably come throughout channels that haven’t any enterprise talking on Native socio-cultural points.
With out giving these channels extra recognition than they deserve, I am going to merely describe their content material as annoying, irresponsible, and reckless. Apparently, many YouTubers suppose Native individuals are nothing greater than facet characters in a make-believe world of aliens, unexplained mysteries, and outlandish conspiracy theories. Or if content material is grounded in actuality, Native individuals are ignored in favor of non-Native “authorities.”
It is alarming to see how a lot misinformation may be shared with none accountability — on condition that portraying Native folks like this does not seem to violate YouTube’s misinformation insurance policies or its neighborhood pointers — particularly when our communities are already so ceaselessly misunderstood. (Mashable requested YouTube for readability about how its misinformation insurance policies and neighborhood pointers relate to content material about Native folks, however did not obtain a solution.)
Luckily, there are channels run by precise Native folks, with credible connections to their neighborhood, who converse the language and know so much concerning the traditions. You simply need to know the place to look. Nevertheless, there are additionally greater than 500 completely different tribal nations throughout the colonial borders of the US, and I am unable to cowl all of them. Certainly, lots of them might not also have a YouTube channel. That is why I am recommending the 5 YouTube accounts beneath as credible channels that give folks a dependable place to begin for studying extra about Native tradition, philosophy, and conventional outlooks.
Religious hustlers are throughout social media. Do not allow them to rip-off you.
In 2017, Shane Brown filmed his father Wally Brown, a Navajo elder and historian, discussing their conventional interpretations of the photo voltaic eclipse that yr. Shane posted the video to his Fb web page; by the next day, it had gone viral, with tons of of hundreds of views. The daddy-and-son duo realized the significance of making academic assets for youthful Navajo folks concerned about studying about their tradition. So Shane created the YouTube channel Navajo Conventional Teachings and uploaded their first video, “Wally talks about what the eclipse means to Navajo folks.” Right this moment, the channel has 184,000 subscribers.
The Browns believed their efforts may assist restore language and tradition loss, that are penalties of so-called Indian boarding colleges the place Native youngsters have been forcibly assimilated into white American tradition through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Additionally they hoped to appropriate half-truths shared concerning the Navajo worldview by non-Native anthropologists through the years. Wally Brown does an excellent job of this when he discusses Navajo views on corn pollen, Navajo sweat lodges, conventional Navajo marriage, and the composition of the celebrities. In a single video titled “Kokopelli,” the elder Brown corrects misconceptions concerning the in style Navajo determine who performs a distinguished function in Navajo ceremonies. Kokopelli through the years has grow to be a misunderstood determine, incorrectly known as a “fertility god,” who can be exploited as a vogue brand for T-shirts, hoodies, jewellery, and rugs. Thank goodness Wally is setting the document straight.
Explanatory movies like “Kokopelli” amongst many others make Navajo Conventional Teachings probably the greatest and most dependable channels on Native tradition.
Deliver up “Indians” in any social gathering, and everybody will miraculously have a Cherokee grandma — however they “by no means realized” the tradition. I say an excellent place to start out studying is from the OsiyoTV YouTube channel, which is part of the regional Emmy-winning web site OsiyoTV Voice of the Cherokee Folks. Even when you do not have a rumored Cherokee princess in your bloodline, you’ll be able to nonetheless get pleasure from quick, well-made documentary model movies that showcase genuine Cherokee historical past, folks, and tradition. Osiyo additionally means “hi there” in Cherokee, so it isn’t only a cool-sounding catchphrase!
OsiyoTV has a five-member manufacturing group led by Jennifer Loren, the director of the Cherokee Nation Movie Workplace. She can be an enrolled Cherokee Nation citizen. Reveals are funded via the tribe’s enterprise workplace, and each episode is nicely researched with historic paperwork and oral historical past from tradition bearers, which is simply one other means of claiming previous people who know so much. In a single 5-minute video that has 1.6 million views, Cherokee Bowmaker Richard Fields discusses how he realized to make conventional bows from his cousin. He says it is necessary that Cherokee bows are made the proper means, and if he would not share the information, will probably be misplaced, very similar to the “previous phrases from the Cherokee language.” Talking of language, when you really feel the necessity to develop your second-language abilities, the Cherokee Nation additionally has a free language app, so you’ll be able to say extra than simply “hi there.”
All seven seasons of OsiyoTV are uploaded to their YouTube Channel.
Not many individuals know that quite a few tribal nations have their very own accredited universities and faculties. Chartered again in 1970, Sinte Gleska College is considered one of them. To develop entry to Lakota information, SinteGleskaUtube was created in 2008 because the official YouTube channel for the varsity. There are practically 300 movies, however a modest 12,500 subscribers. This implies individuals are lacking out on the teachings of Lakota philosophy and language captured on movie from the late Albert White Hat Sr., a famend chief of the Lakota neighborhood. Though there are different noteworthy Lakota on the channel, White Hat stands out, having introduced practically 40 years of educating expertise to youthful generations and writing many books on studying and writing within the Lakota language.
You possibly can see him in motion as he discusses Lakota philosophy and the deeper which means of Lakota phrases in “Teachings and Well being Class/ Lakota Creation Story.” Sinte Gleska Tube is a precious useful resource for these desirous to know extra concerning the tribe that took half in annihilating the seventh Cavalry and Normal Custer on the Battle of the Little Bighorn. I also needs to point out that “Sinte Gleska” means “Noticed Tail” in Lakota, which refers to Chief Noticed Tail, a significant determine within the Plains Wars of the 1800s. There may be nonetheless a battle brewing, nonetheless, because the Lakota language, together with many different Native languages, is on the brink of extinction.
Hopefully, SinteGleskaUtube can assist within the conflict towards ignorance and misunderstanding.
Am I recommending one other Lakota-based YouTube channel? Sure, sure I’m. Wo Lakota takes you outdoors the classroom of Sinte Gleska and places you immediately in a room with elders like Duane Hole Horn Bear and Marie Randall. It is nearly such as you’re sitting of their lounge whereas they move alongside information in segments known as Important Understandings. These teachings focus extra on the Oceti Sakowin Oyate, a mixed neighborhood generally known as the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota. These names are roughly translated into “allies.” Subjects mentioned embrace the which means of life, the significance of water, and even some authorized discourse regarding the issues with American legal guidelines. You understand, these pesky precedents that known as for Native extermination and the stealing of land.
Talking of tricksters, Hole Horn Bear provides an excellent dose of storytelling about Iktomi the spider. In lots of movies, he speaks each Lakota and English. In others he speaks solely in Lakota. “Wolakota” means steadiness and coming collectively, which is a prevailing theme in lots of Native communities throughout Turtle Island. The Wo Lakota YouTube channel is one a part of the broader WoLakota Undertaking, which was created to assist Native and non-Native educators alike implement culturally responsive practices in colleges. So when you’re an educator, merely curious, or looking for steadiness, tune in.
One necessary a part of Native tradition is our humor. So to spherical out the listing, I need to embrace the YouTube channel Patrick is a Navajo, the place Patrick Willie shares video reactions to trending matters on social media. He’s from — you guessed it — the Navajo tribe. Willie can be a Hoop Dancer. If you wish to know extra about what that’s and witness Willie doing the Hoop Dance, try this video. The principle level of his channel is to “unfold humor and good emotions.” The preferred movies are from a sequence known as Natives React, the place Willie and his mates share their reactions to memes and movies on completely different social media platforms.
Most of the movies are particular to Native tradition, and the channel might come off to non-Native viewers as a giant inside joke — actually, it type of is. Nevertheless, that is arguably extra purpose to observe, because it’s a good way to interrupt the “stoic Indian” stereotype that has permeated in style media. An unfiltered have a look at Native humor, like “Man speaks Indigenous language and Bear responds!” or “Why Do Native American Males Have Lengthy Hair?“, is simply as necessary as content material associated to different features of Native tradition.
These channels are solely a small fraction of the knowledge on the market, however I imagine they’re an excellent place to begin to navigate content material claiming to share cultural information, to not point out the racist landfill that’s the remark part of so many movies purportedly about Native tradition. With this perception, you’ll be able to grow to be a greater knowledgeable relative to Native communities and assist problem misconceptions.
Or when you are Native, you’ll be able to watch and be impressed to additional reconnect to your individual tradition.
Jimmy Lee Beason II is a member of the Osage Nation and a professor within the Indigenous & American Indian Research division at Haskell Indian Nations College.
